I really should read them again- in English. I’ve actually only read the first Swedish translation. It is, in it’s own way, spectacular, but, well, the translator, Åke Ohlmarks, had some very odd ideas. He actually re-wrote several passages, as well as making other changes. In the end he quarrelled with both Tolkien as well as Christopher Tolkien and wrote a revenge book where he accused Tolkine of a number of unsavory things. Ohlmark’s was a respected professor, which I guess is why it was published, but it’s actually inase gibberish. And i digress. Anyway, My interest in the books had waned by the point my English was good enough to manage reading it in its original language.
The odd thing is that at the time I didn't even notice the lack of female characters. (It wasn't until the films came along that it struck me.) It goes a long way in demonstrating how even female readers are accustomed to normalizing male as the default.
It does. :) But the lack of female character never sat well with me- even as a child. I loved fantasy, which was really hard to find in Sweden in the late 70’s/early 80’s, and I remember how satisfied I always felt when I found any where the main character was female.
(I used to draw alien women--sometimes blue, sometimes with cat ears--and my classic Mary Sue was a space smuggler who dressed in a Han Solo vest, but had long dark braids like Princess Leia.)
Sounds awesome!
The thing is... we've all been sort of trained to look back at our "terrible Mary Sue stories" as bad when there are so many less-probably male characters out there
You are right. A lot of heroes out there are clearly wish-fulfillments. I was a shy teenage who had any confidence about my looks bullied away, and it was such a relief to imagine up someone who was everything I wasn’t. And a Mary Sue doesn’t necessarily have to be badly written- even if she often is. As you say it’s probably a matter of age- a lot of the bad Mary Sue-fic I have read seems to have been written by young and inexperienced writers. And in truth, a Mary Sue isn’t necessarily an OC, it is as likely named after a canon character, but the writer lacks the skill to write them in character.
(When I look at my own fanfic, it's embarrassing how few have any significant female characters at all.)
I’m the opposite- virtually every fanfic I have written have significant female characters. :D
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branchandroot
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Date: 2018-01-27 04:22 pm (UTC)I really should read them again- in English. I’ve actually only read the first Swedish translation. It is, in it’s own way, spectacular, but, well, the translator, Åke Ohlmarks, had some very odd ideas. He actually re-wrote several passages, as well as making other changes. In the end he quarrelled with both Tolkien as well as Christopher Tolkien and wrote a revenge book where he accused Tolkine of a number of unsavory things. Ohlmark’s was a respected professor, which I guess is why it was published, but it’s actually inase gibberish. And i digress. Anyway, My interest in the books had waned by the point my English was good enough to manage reading it in its original language.
The odd thing is that at the time I didn't even notice the lack of female characters. (It wasn't until the films came along that it struck me.) It goes a long way in demonstrating how even female readers are accustomed to normalizing male as the default.
It does. :) But the lack of female character never sat well with me- even as a child. I loved fantasy, which was really hard to find in Sweden in the late 70’s/early 80’s, and I remember how satisfied I always felt when I found any where the main character was female.
(I used to draw alien women--sometimes blue, sometimes with cat ears--and my classic Mary Sue was a space smuggler who dressed in a Han Solo vest, but had long dark braids like Princess Leia.)
Sounds awesome!
The thing is... we've all been sort of trained to look back at our "terrible Mary Sue stories" as bad when there are so many less-probably male characters out there
You are right. A lot of heroes out there are clearly wish-fulfillments. I was a shy teenage who had any confidence about my looks bullied away, and it was such a relief to imagine up someone who was everything I wasn’t. And a Mary Sue doesn’t necessarily have to be badly written- even if she often is. As you say it’s probably a matter of age- a lot of the bad Mary Sue-fic I have read seems to have been written by young and inexperienced writers. And in truth, a Mary Sue isn’t necessarily an OC, it is as likely named after a canon character, but the writer lacks the skill to write them in character.
(When I look at my own fanfic, it's embarrassing how few have any significant female characters at all.)
I’m the opposite- virtually every fanfic I have written have significant female characters. :D